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Author Topic: BeeKiller Hornets??  (Read 2993 times)

Offline Scadsobees

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BeeKiller Hornets??
« on: February 21, 2007, 02:43:34 pm »
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/02/21/whornets21.xml

http://www.physorg.com/news91263719.html

Don't know if these are Japanese hornets, or as deadly as the article says, but still interesting and somewhat scary.
Rick

Offline Jerrymac

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Re: BeeKiller Hornets??
« Reply #1 on: February 21, 2007, 03:11:42 pm »
Perhaps one should redesign the hive entrance so these big suckers can't get to the brood.
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Offline Understudy

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Re: BeeKiller Hornets??
« Reply #2 on: February 21, 2007, 11:42:03 pm »
So when they arrive in the US. Do we cross breed the AHB with the Japanesse honeybee and the Italians. We will end up with an agressive honeybee that can kill the hornet and gathers honey but only a teaspoon a year.

Sincerely,
Brendhan
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Offline abejaruco

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Re: BeeKiller Hornets??
« Reply #3 on: February 21, 2007, 11:52:34 pm »
These are not Japanese hornets. Are Chinese, and it seems that Chino are not so "Banzai" as the Japanese. It is a simple wasp, orange, but wasp. On the other hand, a "invader specie" never is a simple matter, breaking frontiers has consequences.
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Offline Mici

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Re: BeeKiller Hornets??
« Reply #4 on: February 22, 2007, 01:38:13 pm »
hope they can't cross the alps!

Offline Understudy

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Re: BeeKiller Hornets??
« Reply #5 on: February 22, 2007, 03:39:22 pm »
The documentary on I saw on discovery on Sunday
http://forum.beemaster.com/index.php?topic=7788.0
mentioned how the cape bees are doing in the African bees. How did this happen?

Because of migratory hives.  It was amazing to watch this documentary and how the AHB an agreesive bee is done in by this lazy cape bee. I had read a few articles on it and posted some of them in the reprint section. But the documentary gave more detail. If AHB can cross into america along with thousands of other invasive species. I very much believe sooner or later killer hornets will come over, and eventually other threats.

I am amazed that box jellyfish and some of the other deadly things that live in .au don't get around more. I would however love to send back all the buffo toads and maleluca trees.

Sincerely,
Brendhan

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Offline Mici

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Re: BeeKiller Hornets??
« Reply #6 on: February 22, 2007, 03:57:03 pm »
anyway, shouldn't a let's say 6mm entrance do the trick?or maybe 5mm? i guess they are very efficient in killing queens on their mating flights huh

Offline Cindi

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Re: BeeKiller Hornets??
« Reply #7 on: February 23, 2007, 01:33:39 am »
Brendhan.  Your earlier post intrigued me, where you talked about many different creatures that inhabit your area, but I got busy reading other posts and forgot about what you posted, until you spoke again about Buffo toads.  I suppose I could google it, but I have a lazy nature and learn so much better when the information is cited through a human, not internet jargon. LOL.  So, tell me about the Buffo toad.  I would be curious.

We have green tree frogs.  They can change colour, from brown to brilliant green, incredible.  They should be starting to begin their mating calls soon.  They usually start around the third week of March and carry on for about two months.  That is one of the most beautiful signs of spring that I cherish every year.  The frogs....thousands of them....coming from the bush, ditches and swampy lands.  I sit many times in the very cool evenings, usually a glass of wine in my hand, in the darkness, listening to the frogs.  Then silence, I know that something has come their way to cause them to abruptly stop.  Then slowly, one croaks, then a couple more, and then the entire forest is singing the beautiful frog notes.

And then there are the bullfrogs that live in the larger swamps.  They are LOUD!!!!  It is reminiscent of a cow bawling.  Many times I have encountered these beasts.  But actually never heard one until a few years ago.  I thought for sure there was a cow in the neighbourhood.  LOL.

When we were kids we would play and swim in a huge swamp (eeks!!!!  The thought of that murky brown water, as children, no fear of any kind of thing that may lay in there awaiting).  It makes me shudder now.

We would catch the bullfrog tadpoles.  These were enormous.  The body being about the size about 3/4 that of a golf ball.  We would spend hours catching these critters, and then at the end of the day play time, release them back to the swamp.  Oh,  the days of my childhood, when life was simple.  It was an adventure with my brothers and sisters.

My oldest daughter sent me an e-mail the other day, entitled "to all those kids that survived the 30s, 40s, 50s, and 60s."   I was in that group.  Many times I want to pass these e-mails on to other forum members.  I know many of us would love to hear some cool things, but I am worried that it may be overkill and maybe everyone else has already heard these little ditties that probably go all over the continent.  So I just keep them in my e-mail folder, notes from my oldest gal.  Here I went again, I am a rambler, but having an awesome day.  Cindi
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Offline Understudy

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Re: BeeKiller Hornets??
« Reply #8 on: February 23, 2007, 09:38:44 am »
Brendhan.  Your earlier post intrigued me, where you talked about many different creatures that inhabit your area, but I got busy reading other posts and forgot about what you posted, until you spoke again about Buffo toads.  I suppose I could google it, but I have a lazy nature and learn so much better when the information is cited through a human, not internet jargon. LOL.  So, tell me about the Buffo toad.  I would be curious........

Well Mick could also tell you abou them considering we took them from his country. Buffo Toads sometimes spelled bufo are also known as cane toads. And cute little frogs they are not. The big fat lazy poisionus toads. You can pick them up and they won't have an effect on you unless you do something silly like lick them. But we won't discuss the stupid action of bored teenagers in the south. However your dog or your cat having about the same intellegence level as a bored southern teenager will try to eat the toad. End result a big vet bill and a sick or dead animal.
My dog has built up a resistance to it but the first few times he looked like he had rabies because he was foaming so bad at the mouth. My vet drives a sportscar for what I have been charged.

Stupid bored teenagers grow up to become politicians. With bright ideas of how to solve problems in the south. Oneof the biggest problems in the south many years ago (and still today for some) was mosquitoes. Blood sucking insects that just love the flesh of snow birds. Snow birds do two things well when they are in florida for more than 6 months vote and whine. Not being subject to mosquito bites I don't relate to their problems, my wife however is viewed as a tasty morsel by them. Let's get back on track. Most people wanted the mosquitos gone. How shall we do this? well someone had the bright idea to import some of Mick's cane toads and let them eat the skeeters. Sounds almost logical. We have a suitable enviroment for buffo toads and they breed profilically and they eat lots of bugs. As they say at the end of those Guinness commericals, "Brilliant."

Remember the origin of politicians. So they brought over all these toads and let them loose in the swamp to eat the mosqitoes. Someone forgot to tell the people one other aspect of the toad. They are lazy. And they work hard at being lazy. So it given the choice between hunting in a dark swamp for mosquitos or hanging out at the corner where a streetlight was attracting all these other bugs, except that mosquitos don't hang around lights. Where do you think the Buffo toad hung his hat? Now in order for a species to reproduce it needs two things (generalization here) food and members of the oposite sex. Well these street lights and the lights outside peoples homes on occasion look like toad orgies. Which of course means more lazy toads. And guess what we still have mosquitos. And lots of Buffo toads. If you drive in Florida you will see them squished on the roads as they lose a real life version of Frogger. Buffo toads didn't even orginate in .au. They came from Hawaii as their politicans tried to rid the cane beetle from their lands. They are spreading but not as fast as they did here. Where there are things that actually are considered predators to cane toads. Remember nothing is a threat to a cane toad except a car tire in the south.

If you would like some I am sure I can convince the teenagers, I mean politicians to send them to you.

The buffo toads being lazy just hang at the outskirts of my hives, not bothered by the occasionally bee sting. And eat what falls in front of their mouths. If they feel they are not getting enough of a free buffet, they will stack themselves in order to try and get to the bottom entrance. Fortunatly my bottom entrances are very small and I have my hives raised 16in/40cm above ground. So they can't stack quite that high.

You may read more here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cane_toads

Sincerely,
Brendhan
The status is not quo. The world is a mess and I just need to rule it. Dr. Horrible

Offline Cindi

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Re: BeeKiller Hornets??
« Reply #9 on: February 23, 2007, 10:41:03 am »
Brendhan.  Thank you for the lesson.  What a dude, that old cane toad.  I looked at the site too.  Good information.

Fiji had the same problem with the mongoose.  Imported to kill snakes I believe, now it has over run the place.  Hmm...imported species, aliens for sure.

We had an enormous toad that lived in my mother's garden when I was a child.  I think that there was only one, but it was 4-6 inches long.  I have never seen toads around here, only the tree frogs.  Maybe they are extinct in my area.  I grew up in a neighbouring town about 40 km from here, so maybe they are just hidden somewhere in the bush.  I think the toads prefer dry areas.

 I used to have a very large gardner snake that lived up beside one of my greenhouses.  It would always be basking on the sand/gravel infront of the door every day in the warm spring and summer.  I have a skin that he shed that hangs on my bedroom wall, along with all other kinds of cool stuffs.  It was a very large snake, but I haven't seen him around for a couple of years.  When I no longer had my nursery business, I took down that greenhouse and turned it into another vegie garden.  I presume he is still up there, but I just don't see him anymore.

Last summer I had left a plastic cup outside on the lawn near the trees and when I picked it up next day there was a little green treefrog inside it.  That was funny.  I don't know why it would go in the cup, but I guess he thought it was a good place to go for awhile.  Cute.  Gonna have a great day.  Cindi
There are strange things done in the midnight sun by the men who moil for gold.  The Arctic trails have their secret tales that would make your blood run cold.  The Northern Lights have seen queer sights, but the queerest they ever did see, what the night on the marge of Lake Lebarge, I cremated Sam McGee.  Robert Service

 

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